In recent years, NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace has been a regular at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Collector-Car Auction and Saturday night he was there to sell a special 1978 Corvette he customized.
The gleaming black Corvette featured a 450-horsepower Chevrolet engine built and dyno-tuned by Doug Yates, who runs Roush-Yates Engines, the company that builds the powerplants for Ford teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Wallace and Yates are next-door neighbors, and Wallace said the engine was “the star of the car.”
On stage at Barrett-Jackson, Wallace said, “It’s got a ton of power, it runs beautifully, it’s a fantastic car. … I’m really proud of this hot rod. I’ve personally had this car over 180 miles per hour and still going. So, it’s fast, I will tell you that.”
Another NASCAR connection: The car was modified by RK Motors, the Charlotte shop and retailer owned by Rob Kauffman, the former owner of Michael Waltrip Racing.
When it was all said and done, the Wallace Corvette sold for $110,000, which includes a 10 percent buyer’s premium.
Original Article by Tom Jensen/Fox Sports: http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/story/rusty-wallace-corvette-sells-110000-barrett-jackson-012217